Huila Edgard Ramirez Natural

Edgard Ramirez is a busy man. Together with his wife Fanny, they manage their coffee farm, Finca Argentina, purchase and process cherry from nearby coffee farmers and parent 13 children. As smallholders with fewer than 20 hectares, Edgard and Fanny cannot depend on large yields and economies of scale, especially when ICE (International Commodity Exchange) prices are low. Instead, they have turned to specialty coffee production to achieve the income they need to support their family.  

With the help of COFFEESUR (Precooperativa Comercializadora de Café del Sur) - an indigenous growers’ association in Acevedo, Huila - the Ramirezes have focused on producing microlots that can garner higher prices through direct export.  

For the Ramirezes and other farmers in the association, the gratification of knowing their name will be on each bag of roasted coffee is a driving factor in their continued dedication to improving the quality of their coffee.  

Coffee trees on Finca La Argentina are intercropped with other cash and subsistence crops such as plantain, pitaya (dragonfruit), peach, orange, tangerine, lime, guava and sugarcane. 

The Ramirezes selectively handpick cherry. Drying cherry is turned regularly to promote even drying and carefully inspected to remove any overripes, underripes or damaged cherry. 

COFFEESUR (Precooperativa Comercializadora de Café del Sur) was founded by Francy Alarcon in 2013. Alarcon’s parents grew up in Colombia’s coffee-growing regions and her dual interest in her heritage and the international export business inspired her to form COFFEESUR.

She identified Acevedo, in Huila, as an area ripe for a specialty coffee revolution. A superb microclimate combined with an existing interest in transitioning to specialty coffee among producers made the area an easy choice.  

In addition to exporting green coffee from established farmers, Alarcon has created the “Next Generation” project that focuses on the children of coffee farmers and at-risk youth in the community. “Next Generation” offers young people in coffee-producing communities a chance to be involved in specialty coffee and acts as a stepping stone to a future career in the industry. 

The Huila region is one of the most well-known coffee growing areas of Colombia. The Department of Huila has a population of 1.125 million and is located in the southwest of the country. The capital of the department is Neiva, a city of about 380,000.  

Along with Cauca and Nariño, Huila is one the three departments where the Colombian Massif is located. A massif is a group of mountain ranges and the Colombian Massif, which is known locally as Nudo de Almaguer, provides up to 70% of safe drinking and agricultural water for the Colombian population. 

The Magdalena River, Colombia’s largest river, runs through the region, providing plenty of water for coffee farming and generating (directly and indirectly) up to 86% of Colombia's GDP. The mountain range also features the fertile volcanic soil so typical to the Andean Mountains.